The Crown Prince Of The Bakrie Conglomerate Family Seduces Elon Musk To Tesla Invest In Electric Vehicle Batteries In Indonesia

Anindya Bakrie and Elon Musk. (Photo: Instagram @anindyabakrie)

JAKARTA - The crown prince of the Bakrie conglomerate family, Anindya Bakrie, accompanied the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan to meet with Elon Musk at the Tesla factory, Austin, Texas, United States. The arrival of the President Director of PT Bakrie and Brothers Tbk (BNBR) was to convince Elon that Tesla would invest in electric vehicle batteries in Indonesia.

Citing the Instagram account @anindyabakrie, he uploaded a selfie with Tesla CEO Elon Musk along with other photos during the visit.

"Our goal is to convince Tesla to explore cooperation with Indonesia regarding the supply and processing of nickel as a raw material for making battery cells based on good and sustainable ESG (Environment, Social and Governance)," said Anin on his personal Instagram, quoted by VOI, Wednesday 27 April.

Anindya together with a group of Indonesian businessmen, including the Vice President Director of PT TBS Energi Utama Tbk. (TOBA) Pandu Patria Sjahrir and former CEO of Bukalapak Rachmat Kaimuddin, who is now a special advisor in the technology sector of the Coordinating Ministry for Maritime Affairs and Investment.

The group was led by the Coordinating Minister for Maritime Affairs and Investment Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan. On that occasion, the Indonesian delegation also presented the G20/B20 program, including inviting Elon Musk to join the International Advisory Caucus B20 and attend the B20 event in mid-November.

As is known, BNBR is currently developing the electric vehicle business. Recently, the business entity of PT Bakrie Autoparts, PT Vektr Mobiliti Indonesia (VKTR), officially established a strategic partnership with the Indonesian bodybuilder company, Tri Sakti.

"With this collaboration, we are officially opening a special industrial facility for manufacturing electric buses, the first in Indonesia, with the help of technology from BYD Auto. VKTR (pronounced 'Vektor') is a spin-off from PT Bakrie Autoparts, a subsidiary of BNBR who has experience more than 40 years in the automotive component industry," said Anindya Bakrie last March.

He continued, by becoming a separate entity, his party hopes that VKTR can become more focused in accelerating the development of the EV industry in Indonesia. Prior to this, he continued, his party had partnered with BYD Auto from China.

According to Anindya, BYD has been a technology provider partner for Bakrie Autoparts since 2018. This partnership was continued by VKTR, which developed the heavy mobility EV segment (high mobility electric vehicles), and started with electric buses.

Anindya also believes that the new collaboration, which is now being initiated with Tri Sakti, will strengthen efforts to develop the forerunner of the country's electric vehicle ecosystem. Cooperation with the domestic manufacturing industry is one way that Bakrie & Brothers takes to meet the target of the Domestic Content Level (TKDN) for its manufactured products.

Anindya added that this is a form of mutually supportive industrial collaboration. His party also wants to ensure that the transportation electrification ecosystem in Indonesia is built here completely from upstream to downstream.

"For example, we are not only building a bus body manufacturing facility, but we are also thinking about a chassis assembly facility that is specifically dedicated to electric buses," he said.